Carlos Alcaraz defeated Laslo Djere by 7-6(2), 6-2 to make it to the fourth round of the Italian Open in Rome on Sunday night. This is the first time when the Spaniard has gone this deep at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Djere struggled a bit with his right arm injury and Alcaraz was able to capitalise on the same. The Spaniard had a slow start but took the opening set in the tiebreaker. The World No.3 was more clinical in the second set to advance in the tournament.

Alcaraz admitted he struggled a bit to find good rhythm in the opening set.

“It was a really tough beginning, honestly, to find a good rhythm, to find the good path in the match,” said Alcaraz. “He played really solid in the first set. I didn’t find the way to [stop him], that’s how tough it was at the beginning. He was serving for the first set and I just thought that I had to stay there, mentally strong, and wait for my chances… I was just happy to get the first set.

“In the second set I think I was playing better. He made a few mistakes that I tried to make the most of, and I am really happy.”

The youngster revealed he got a cold after recovering from injury but didn’t want to think too much about it when he was on the court.

“I was trying to come back from the injury as good as I can and then I got a cold,” said Alcaraz, who wore a nasal strip against Djere, as he had in his opening-round win against Dusan Lajovic. “But once you are on the court you try not to think about those things and just keep going. Sometimes it is difficult, but it’s great having matches in straight sets to save energy for the next matches.”

Alcaraz will next face Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.